Transfusion Requirements in Gastrointestinal (GI) Bleeding

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Recently it has been suggested that a restrictive transfusion of units of Red Cells (URC) may improve the outcome of ICU patients with anemia. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the transfusion of URC may be deleterious for the hemostatic process of bleeding lesions, which suggest that a restrictive transfusion may be valuable in patients which gastrointestinal bleeding. Transfusion of URC may also increase portal pressure which may be detrimental to control acute portal hypertensive bleeding.

The aim of the present study is to assess whether a restrictive transfusions may improve the outcome of patients with acute nonvariceal gastrointestinal bleeding, and also whether such a restrictive strategy may improve the outcome of bleeding episodes related with portal hypertension.

The study will be carried out with a prospective, randomized and controlled design comparing the restrictive transfusion strategy with the usual nonrestrictive transfusional strategy. Overall 860 patients will be included; 430 in each group.

The main outcome measure will be survival. All deaths occurred within the 30 days after admission, will be considered. Secondary outcomes will include rebleeding and complications related to treatment, and related to the bleeding episode itself. Portal pressure will be measured to assess the influence of the transfusions strategy on fluctuations of this parameter, and the relationship with the clinical course of bleeding episode.

The study will be performed at the Bleeding Unit of our hospital during a period of 3 years.

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Ages Eligible for Study:

18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Sexes Eligible for Study:

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

No

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

All patients with acute upper GI hemorrhage who do not have any criterion of exclusion.